Man admits to taking part in $2.7 million robbery at Beverly Hills jewelry store
A Long Beach man has pleaded guilty to robbing a Beverly Hills jewelry store in March 2022 of millions of dollars worth of items.
Jimmie Lee Vernon III, 32, pleaded guilty to robbery charges Thursday. He has been in federal custody since September 2022.
On March 23, 2022, Vernon was among a group of thieves who used heavy machinery to destroy display cases at Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills while employees were present.
The daring robbery was caught on camera and video provided to KTLA by an eyewitness shows several people in sweatpants and sweatshirts smashing a street-facing store window and making off with a pile of expensive jewelry.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one of the thieves was Vernon.
The items stolen during the crime included 20 watches, 19 bracelets, eight rings, seven pairs of earrings, four necklaces and one decorative obelisk, with a total value of approximately $2,674,600, the Department of Justice said.
Vernon and his accomplice fled the store and fled in an Audi, leaving behind a stolen Kia that they had driven to the scene.
Authorities said Vernon's own carelessness ultimately proved his downfall: While smashing the store window, he dropped his cellphone from his sweatpants pocket, which investigators later recovered, according to the charging documents.
In addition to Vernon's mistake, one of his accomplices posted several photos on social media showing large amounts of cash with the caption “robbery gang.”
Vernon and his co-defendants were identified shortly thereafter. Deshon Bell, 22, and LaDell Tharpe, 39, were arrested during an overnight investigation in Long Beach in September 2022. Vernon was arrested in Barstow the same day.
Bell previously pleaded guilty to a federal robbery charge and was sentenced to one year in federal prison in February. Tharp has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in October.
Vernon is scheduled to be sentenced in court on Oct. 10 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The incident was one of the most high-profile robberies in the Los Angeles area since the pandemic began and marked a shocking moment for law enforcement across Southern California.
The Los Angeles Police Department eventually issued a warning to residents and tourists not to wear expensive jewelry in public due to the risk of becoming a victim of a home invasion robbery.
Robbery cases like the one at Luxury Jewels ultimately led to increased law enforcement responsibility for retail crime and sparked the creation of a statewide task force to combat the growing problem.
